This week we're lookin' at Jesus' words
in Matthew chapter seven
where He tells us how to establish our lives
on a firm foundation.
Tells us kind of the secrets
to withstanding any storm
that life might throw in our direction.
He said there are really two parts of it.
Part number one we talked about yesterday,
which is hearing His word
and make sure that the word
we're hearing is His word.
The second part of it was
putting that word into practice.
A number of years ago I was really struggling
with a major life decision
that was going to have a monumental impact
on my career, my family,
pretty much the majority of people
that I know and love.
Really struggling with it in a major way
to the point that my friends knew
that I was struggling with it,
and they would call in and check on me
every once in awhile to see how I was doing.
And I remember one day
where a good friend of mine,
he called up and he said, he said, "How you feelin'?"
And I don't remember exactly what I said
but I think I used words like worried,
anxious, and afraid.
And then he said, "I understand
"why you might feel that way.
And then he paused.
And then he said this,
"In which passage in the Bible right now
"are you thinking of right now
"where God gives you the right to feel that way?"
And of course there are none.
There are no passages in the Bible
where God says, "Wow,
"you should be really worried about your life."
Or "Whoa, this is way too big for me to handle,
"you should be really afraid.
Or passages where He says you should be really
anxious about everything.
There aren't.
There are, however, plenty of promises in the Bible
that say the opposite,
that say that you don't need
to worry about your life.
You don't need to be anxious about anything.
You don't need to be afraid.
God says that in the Bible
literally hundreds of times.
My friend was reminding me of how it is
that we allow God to guide us through life.
If we allow God to guide us through life
when we use His word to dictate what we say,
what we believe, and even what we feel,
so in other words the next time
before you open your mouth and say anything,
before you allow your emotions
to get carried away in whatever direction
they want you to take,
really a good practice to get into
is to ask yourself, "Does God give me the right?"
"Does God give me the right?"
And if you can find a passage in the Bible
where God clearly gives you the right
to do or to say or to feel a certain way,
then go ahead and do and say or feel it.
But if you can't find a passage in the Bible
where God gives you the right
to do that or if you can't,
you can find a passage in the Bible
where God gives you the right to do
or say or feel something,
and you go ahead and do or say
or feel the exact opposite,
then just know that God is no longer
guiding you through life.
Then your life is being guided
by something different.
And God knows how many different things
are out there in the world right now
trying to guide you in ways through life
that are just going to make you crash in the end.
And He doesn't want that.
Which is why in the book of Psalms
He gives us one very simple instruction.
Psalm 119 verse 105, He says this,
where it says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet
"and a light on my path."
God's word gives us the way to go moving forward.
And following His word,
in the end you will never crash.
There are so many incredible passages
in the Bible where God gives us the right
to feel loved, to feel encouraged,
to feel motivated, to feel so many good things.
If there's a particular passage in the Bible
where God gives you the right to feel
something really wonderful, something that
a passage that means a lot to you,
would you mind sharing that with us,
so that our community can rejoice
in that truth, too.
We'll see you tomorrow.